| 1 | Order your pig from a specialty meat packer, grocery store or local locker; often 7 days advance notice is necessary. |
| 2 | You will also need a specially-made "hog cooker," a grill made to accomodate the large size of the butterflied hog. |
| 3 | Makes about 30-40 pounds of chopped pork, enough to serve 50-70 people: split backbone to allow pig to lay flat, being careful not to pierce skin. |
| 4 | Trim and discard any excess fat. |
| 5 | Sprinkle salt inside cavity. |
| 6 | Set pig aside. |
| 7 | Place 20 pounds of the charcoal in large grill; pour 1 quart charcoal lighter fluid over top and ignite. |
| 8 | Let burn until charcoal has turned ash-grey. |
| 9 | Place heavy gauge wire, about the size of the pig, over grill, thirteen inches from coals. |
| 10 | Place pig flat, skin side up, on wire surface. |
| 11 | Close lid of cooker; cook at 225 °F. |
| 12 | For 6 hours, adding additional lighted coals as needed to maintain temperature in cooker. |
| 13 | Place a second piece of wire over pig, sandwiching pig between the two layers of wire. |
| 14 | Turn pig over; remove wire from top. |
| 15 | Insert meat thermometer in thigh, do not touch bone. |
| 16 | Baste meat with barbecue sauce; pour sauce in rib cavity to measure one inch. |
| 17 | Close pork cooker lid; cook at 225 °F. |
| 18 | For two more hours or until meat thermometer registers 160 °F. |
| 19 | And no pink meat is visible when hams and shoulder are cut. |
| 20 | Slice and chop meat; serve with barbecue sauce, sandwich buns, cole slaw, and your other favorite side dishes. |
| 21 | Tips: allow about 1 ?pounds carcass weight per person. |
| 22 | Do not exceed 225 °F. |
| 23 | Cooking temperature during the first two hours of cooking; the idea is to slowly cook the pig. |
| 24 | Temperature control is more difficult in an open grill; allow for 1 hour of cooking time per 10 pounds of pig. |
| 25 | Additional coals started in a small grill outside of the cooker should be added as needed to maintain proper temperature. |
| 26 | Distribute more coals under the shoulders and hams and less in the center for more uniform cooking. |
| 27 | Allow two quarts of barbecue sauce per 75 pounds of pork. |
| 28 | Equipment for making the job easier: specially-made hog cooker extra small grill or "burn barrel" for starting coals squirt container of water for possible heat source flare-ups knife, cleaver, chopping block for chopping roasted hog |
